Is Soylent Aiming to Be the Official Food Substitute for Gamers?

Soylent, that chalky-looking liquid food substitute that shares its name with a horrific sci-fi concept, is aggressively trying to make its way into the food world. The start-up's target is the world’s most elite gamers.

The company has recently announced a sponsorship of the upcoming Electronic Sports League’s (ESL) ESEA Pro League season and the ESL One tournament occuring October 3–4 at Madison Square Garden. There, top ranked gamers compete, playing video games like Dota 2, a multiplayer online battle game, and stand the chance of winning $250,000.

Soylent plans to have a presence at the event and put up prize money. The partnership is a natural fit, it seems, as the regular users of Soylent seem mostly to be programmers and people who like to put in long hours in front of the computer.

While the health benefits of the product are still being weighed (as well as the thought processes of its creator), one thing is for sure: If drinking Soylent means you don’t have to be bothered with getting up to make lunch, it seems like hardcore video gamers may now have another way to level up.